An Asari Scorned
by vuarapuung
Summary: Following her rejection by Shepard, Liara seeks to eliminate her competition and win back her man. Takes place during ME3


_Spoilers for Mass Effect 3 ahead._

###

Liara typed furiously at the keypad, trying to focus on the screens in front of her, but it was becoming more and more difficult as her eyes blurred with tears. She sniffed and tried to wipe them away from her face, but to no avail. With a sob of frustration she kicked the machine, and rushed over to her bed where she collapsed and finally succumbed to the tears she had been holding back since Shepard had left.

She had tried her best to hide her disappointment, but there was no doubt he had seen it. Since she had found out he was still alive she had tried to steal herself to this possibility. She tried to reason that it had been so long; they'd grown apart; she was so much older and more mature now. But the truth was that she was still that little asari girl she'd been three years ago, when that strapping young human had come to save her...

And his rejection _hurt_. They'd been so close before, and she'd shared with him that amazing and wonderful night before Ilos. What had she done wrong, had she changed? 

Then there were those rumours. While she'd been gathering information and he'd been out doing Cerberus's dirty work there had been rumours of him with other women - the psychotic ex-convict Jack and the pretty and ever-so-perfect Miranda. Liara felt sick at the thought of Shepard sharing an intimate moment like them. She pulled her pillow close to herself, and sobbed more.

Behind her she could hear her personal assistant Glyph saying something. She ordered the VI to be silent. The last thing she needed was Glyph creating a file on this and uploading it to her database.

Alone in her room she cried for a while.

###

They had been on the Citadel for all of ten minutes before some slut started coming onto him. Diana Allers, allegedly a reporter for some show Liara had never even heard of. She promptly assigned one of her agents to check out the validity of that claim. The reply she had received had not impressed her.

_Show definitely real. Allers is babe. Would totally hit that._

She had often told her operatives to keep their messages short, and as far as she was concerned that one had seven words too many.

Then Shepard, having been taken in by that harlot and her lies, had accepted her request to stay on the Normandy.

Allers had barely been on the Normandy a day before she was emailing Shepard constantly with requests for personal emails. Being the Shadow Broker, Liara was able to read and intercept all of these emails (hell, it wasn't like Shepard ever read his damn emails, that email Liara herself had sent him was still marked unread).

Eventually though, one got through, and she heard through EDI that Shepard and Allers had had a private meeting in his room. Liara had fumed at that. During dinner that evening she had been unable to do anything but leer at Allers, who was casually flirting with Shepard the whole time.

Liara had to do something to get rid of her. She'd trawled through every file and report on Allers she could get. She had a bit of a mixed past, mostly full of drinking too much and having lots of sex – neither of which were traits that were likely to put Shepard off. Liara slumped down on her keyboard in defeat. Maybe she should just accept that Shepard had found his next sexual conquest.

Or, perhaps, she could do the unthinkable.

Liara stood rigid, suddenly, flashing back to Virmire, three years ago. The choice had been there for Shepard to make – to save Kaiden, holding down the fort beside the bomb, or to rescue Ashley pinned down in the tower. He was already half-rushing off to save Ashley, but a little word in his ear left a hint of doubt...

And Liara had gotten rid of one potential rival forever.

And Allers was nothing on Ashley. Liara had feared a direct confrontation with Ashley – the other woman was an experienced soldier who would have torn her apart. Allers was a spoilt party girl, who would be no match for Liara's biotics.

All it took would be getting her alone. Liara used Shepard's terminal in the CIC to send Allers an email asking to meet down below the engineering deck, where they wouldn't be overheard. Liara snuck down and waited for Allers.

She took a while to arrive though. At first Liara wondered if maybe something had tipped the reporter off – perhaps her message had been too eloquent for the normally short and to the point Shepard, but Allers eventually arrived, in that tiny little white dress, and began setting up the camera.

Liara emerged from the shadows whilst Allers was distracted. She made sure that where she stood blocked off any chance of escape before Allers turned around and discovered her.

"Dr T'soni?" Allers exclaimed. "I didn't hear you come down. I was just, er, waiting for Shepard."

"I know, and I'd like to have a word with you about that," Liara said. Allers raised an eyebrow.

"Look, Liara, I don't know what you've got into your head -."

"Quiet, Allers," Liara snapped, pointing a finger at her. "I'm sure Shepard thinks you're just being nice, but I see through you. And I'm giving you friendly warning – back off, Shepard is taken!"

Allers actually had the nerve to smirk at that. "Listen, _sister_," she drawled. "Shepard invited me onto his ship. The way I see it, the commander is old enough to make his own decisions. I wonder who he'll choose. The saucy celebrity interviewer." She slowly ran a hand along her own body to emphasise this. "Or some dorky blue-skinned freak show. Get out of my way."

Allers stormed forward to try and get past her, but Liara grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back. Liara focused all her energy on summoning up a biotic field around her.

"You wouldn't dare," Allers said. "My camera has recorded this whole thing!"

Liara drew a pistol and shot the floating camera, which promptly exploded.

"Shit," Allers muttered. She tried to run at Liara again, but she was too fast for her. Liara whipped out her hand to open up a Singularity. Allers was dragged backwards into its grasp.

"Please, Liara, no!" Allers screamed for her life. No one would hear her, though. Liara knew with the doors upstairs sealed the Engineers would never hear a thing.

With a fizz the Singularity came to an end, exploding in a burst of energy that sent Allers flying into the wall. Her head struck with a thud, and her body slumped down onto the ground as a pool of blood began to form. Allers did not scream again as Liara disposed of the body in the trash compactor.

Afterwards, at the top of the stairs he ran into Donnelly. Once he thought she was out of earshot he rushed off to make some sleazy remark to Engineer Daniels about Liara. Liara smiled as she made her way to the elevator. Obviously the fool didn't suspect a thing.

She briefly wondered if Shepard would be upset whenever he noticed Allers was missing. Perhaps it might give her a chance to offer to comfort him.

###

Allers had just been the first problem taken care of. Unfortunately Shepard's ability to attract and inspire followers meant he had a number of potential suitors. The next of these Liara would be forced to confront was Jack.

It had begun with the call that Cerberus was attacking some biotics research facility. Because of this, Shepard had asked that she be part of the team to accompany him, being something of a biotic expert on the ship. She had had no qualms about this, until they had run into Jack. Jack had promptly punched Shepard in the face, before then snogging the face off him.

Liara stood, outraged behind Shepard. _How dare she?_ Liara had been about to give Jack a piece of her mind before she remembered her place – she was supposed to be Shepard's caring friend, who was totally happy for him and would be there for him when the crazy bitch went off the rails and killed someone he cared about, probably Joker. Yes, that sounded like her plan.

After Jack and Shepard finished conversing, Liara found herself standing with the young biotic while Shepard tried to override the controls on the nearby door.

"So, you're the asari doctor he used to screw?" Jack asked. Liara puffed out her cheeks in anger.

"So, you're the drugged up psycho-slut he once gave a pity shag?" Liara snapped back.

"Yep, that's me!" Jack replied with a slap on her chest as if she was proud of it. "Nice to meet you."

Liara decided that she hated this girl. What on Earth did Shepard ever see in her? Liara was denied the chance to tell her just how much she loathed her already by Shepard's return, telling them it was time to move on.

The battle through the facility was fierce. Liara focused her best just on staying alive, whilst Jack and her group provided support from above.

Eventually they fought their way to the shuttle. They were just about to take off when Jack noticed one of her students was missing. Rodriguez had been left behind, and was currently fleeing from Cerberus forces. Jack rushed out to help her, and Liara saw her opportunity at last.

All it took was one stray shot. Liara picked off two Cerberus operatives chasing Jack, then strafed the gun across, letting one cheeky shot fly which clipped Jack's leg before taking a shot at several more troops. Jack stumbled to the ground with a shout, although no idea where the shot had come from.

Cerberus forces surrounded and overwhelmed her. She kicked and screamed trying to break free.

"No, let me go! I will destroy you!" Jack shrieked as Cerberus forces dragged her and a now unconscious Rodriguez away. Shepard moved to jump down off the shuttle and chase after her, but it was Garrus who put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't save her now, and we have to get these kids to safety," Garrus said. Shepard nodded glumly, and gave the order to move out.

###

No sooner was Jack taken care of when Shepard started receiving random emails from Miranda. As she had with Allers, Liara tried to intercept one of these as well. She'd sent back a sleazy request from Shepard's email account for Miranda to prove it was her by sending back pictures of her tits. The response had been so prompt it was like Miranda was expecting it. In order to stop Traynor from telling Shepard Liara had been using his private terminal she offered Traynor the pictures for her own personal collection.

Well, at least Liara didn't have to worry about Traynor trying to steal Shepard away.

Shepard thankfully never saw the boobies pictures, but unfortunately did see the original email asking Shepard to meet in the Citadel. They met in some apartment overlooking the Presidium. Liara made sure to stand on the edge of the Presidium where she had the best view into the apartment.

Liara's lip curled as she watched her, pacing around the room, those oh-so-perfect hips swaying seductively. Every now and then she appeared to run a hand along herself as if to draw Shepard's attention to this. Shepard, like he always did, stood rigid to attention and watched her the whole time.

Then she sat down on the couch and appeared to beckon him over.

Liara was all prepared to storm up there and murder Miranda right in front of Shepard, but for some reason he appeared to hold back. They exchange a brief hug and then he left, leaving Miranda to stare out the window, seemingly oblivious to Liara's eyes watching her.

Liara had to make sure Miranda didn't have any more private meetings with Shepard. She thought about her contacts on the Citadel – she knew that Kelly Chambers was here, and still in contact with the Illusive Man. Perhaps the best thing to do was to convince Chambers to pass a message along.

###

In the end Kai Leng did Liara a favour with Miranda, killing her as she tried to save her sister from her father. Shepard had been there with her at the end, and had been somewhat sulky afterwards. Perhaps the biggest surprise though had been Tali's reaction. The young quarian had gotten extremely drunk in the lounge and begun reminiscing with Shepard about how much she'd hated Miranda. Shepard had rushed to tell everyone about Tali's inebriated state, and Liara had rushed herself to see it.

"I don't know, I guess I'm kind of glad she's gone though," Tali said to Liara. "I was a bit jealous of her to be honest, because Shepard had always seemed so much more interested in her than me. A reason I was jealous of you once before as well." Tali sipped at her drink. "Hey, you're not like together or anything anymore, right?"

Liara poured herself a stiff drink of her own. "Truthfully we are not together," she confessed. "Although, I wish we were." Liara took a drink – her eyes watered and she choked a little.

"Right," Tali said. She swayed a bit on the seat for a moment. "Do you think I should ask him out?" Liara tried to think of something as best she could.

"Tali, your bodies would be incompatible. It would never work," Liara said. Tali nodded, appearing to consider this for a moment.

"I think I shall go and ask him out," Tali announced. She tried to stand up, but before Liara could stop her she fell straight to the ground and began to groan.

"Perhaps in the morning?" Liara suggested.

"Hhhrrrr," Tali groaned in agreement (maybe).

Liara left the portside lounge feeling troubled. Allers had been a bitch, Jack had been psychotic, Miranda had been in love with herself and even Ashley had been a bit racist, but Tali had been her friend. They'd been through a lot together. And maybe she could make Shepard happy? Didn't Liara's friends deserve to be happy together?

Unfortunately she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and collided with Garrus. Garrus apologised profusely for running into her as he helped her off the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Liara, I wasn't looking where I was going," he said.

"Don't worry," Liara replied, tentatively rubbing her now sore buttocks. "I wasn't really paying attention either. I've just come back from speaking to Tali."

"Tali?" Garrus perked up. "Yes, Shepard said she was a little, er, under the weather."

"That's one way of putting it," Liara confirmed.

"I was just going to check up on her," Garrus said, scratching the back of his head. A light seemed to turn on in Liara's head – maybe there was another way to remove Tali as a threat.

"Garrus, do you like Tali?" she asked.

"What?" Garrus replied in an unusually high voice. "What are you? What makes... How?..." His head suddenly dropped to his chest without warning.

"Garrus, it's okay," Liara reassured him. "Any girl would be lucky to have you?"

Garrus seemed to perk up a little. "You really think so? I mean, I'm not exactly good looking, with the massive scar on the side of the face, am I?"

"Don't worry about that. Trust me - girls aren't only interested in looks. You're sweet, funny, and, let's face it, a bit of a bad ass. Perhaps though, you might want to wait until Tali's a little more... with it, though." She gave Garrus an encouraging smile as she walked back to her room. Yes, that would clean things up quite nicely.

###

Shepard had given the order to head through the mass effect relay to the Cerberus base. It was just a matter of a few hours before they reached the base. Just like Ilos, Liara was sure that the time had come to prepare for the final assault. And, just like Ilos, Liara planned to take advantage of this potential last night together.

She spent a bit of time getting ready. Her armour was form fitting, but tonight she donned something a little more revealing – a little black dress she'd been saving for the occasion. Taking care to avoid letting anyone see her (Donnelly would probably have had a stroke) she snuck out of her room to the elevator, and took it up to Shepard's cabin. Once there she tried to open the door.

Odd, she thought. The door had never been locked to her before. She tried again, but it wasn't working.

"EDI, why won't this door open?" she demanded.

"Dr T'soni, Commander Shepard has sealed the door from the inside," EDI's voice answered over the comm. "He said that he requires to not be disturbed before the upcoming battle." 

"I'm not here to disturb him EDI, trust me. You have the power to override his order and open the door. Do it." 

"I'm sorry, Dr T'soni, the Commander was explicit in his order. He requires rest."

"Damn it EDI, open this door! I _know _what he needs!" Liara shouted. EDI did not respond, even though Liara shouted for her again.

Her voice hoarse and eventually defeated, Liara slumped down against the door. She sobbed for a moment – her beloved so close and yet she was to be denied. What she wouldn't give for Shepard to come through that door, but there was no way he could hear her through it.

So close.

###

It was during the final assault on Earth that it finally came to Liara. Shepard had been walking around the advance command station, giving last words of encouragement to each of his team. Eventually he came to Liara.

"Shepard, I have a gift for you. It will only take a moment," Liara said. Shepard had the distinct look on his face of a man who thought he was about to get boob. Liara ignored that – there would be plenty of time for boob when this was over. Instead she offered to take his hand...

Shepard didn't realise at the time what was happening. She took him to a place, a quiet, dark place where it was just the two of them, and there they had a moment. Liara looked into his eyes and remembered why she was doing this, and why she had come so far.

Shepard eventually left, offering her a few more words of encouragement, seemingly oblivious to the effects of the melding. Liara gently caressed her stomach whilst Shepard spoke to the team together. Eventually he headed out with Garrus and James at his side – he preferred to have his two soldier buddies at his side.

Liara watched him leave from the command centre. He turned and gave a last wave to her, which Liara returned with a smile. It was strange to think that Shepard had no idea of the life they had just created...

Asari did not reproduce like humans – there was no need for sexual intercourse. Sure, it was enjoyable and most asari liked to try it, but all it really took was a special moment between two people where they completely embraced each others consciousness. And Shepard was nothing if not honourable. When he came back and discovered Liara was pregnant with his child, he would stay with her. And Liara would have what she always wanted – a family with the man she loved.

Just as long as the stupid bastard didn't go and get himself killed.


End file.
